Wednesday, March 21, 2001
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Wednesday, March 21, 2001 |
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Witness: 'A. K. popped him' SUV murder trial By JOHN MUNFORD A witness said Karl Bryan Hodge shot drug dealer Adolf Stubbs as the two drove in an SUV later found abandoned and burning in Fayette County almost two years ago, according to testimony in Hodge's Fayette County murder trial Tuesday. The murder was the result of a drug deal double-cross, witnesses said. "He popped him. A.K. [Hodge] popped him," Clive Williams testified a codefendant told him moments after the murder. Williams was driving a second vehicle following the Ford Expedition that carried Stubbs, Hodge and two other men the night of the murder, Williams testified. Stubbs' body was found in the burning SUV in a partly completed subdivision in north Fayette hours later. The dramatic testimony came Tuesday afternoon before Judge Christopher Edwards. Earlier, Williams said that Hodge had bought a .45 caliber revolver months before Stubbs was shot and killed, according to a witness who knew Hodge. Williams testified that Hodge purchased the .45 caliber gun along with another gun from a man named Richie at an upscale hair salon they frequented. Hodge, also known as "A.K.," told Williams he bought the weapons, and Williams later saw the weapons in Hodge's possession, he added. "A.K. brought the guns back," Williams said. The testimony served as a partial link to the murder weapon, which has never been recovered. However, police believe they found the second weapon that was purchased with the murder weapon: a .44 caliber pistol. Hodge's attorney, Michael Martin, objected to Williams mentioning the purchase of the gun since it could bias the jury into thinking Hodge had "bad character," because he had the weapons although he had been convicted of a felony. Judge Edwards ruled, however, that Hodge having the gun could enter as testimony because the state had not introduced evidence that Hodge was a convicted felon. Stubbs was shot in the back of the head before the SUV was abandoned and torched. He was shot with a .45 caliber weapon, said District Attorney Bill McBroom. Just before the shooting occurred, Stubbs had been to Atlanta to make a marijuana deal, his girlfriend testified in court. Andrea Gould said Stubbs suspected he was in trouble just before he was killed. "The last time I heard from him, he was very upset," Gould said. "He just had a bad feeling about it. He said Pablo [Paul Hylton, Stubbs' partner in the marijuana deal] did something that could cost him his life." Hodge and Glen Simon Hamilton both face life in prison on murder charges relating to Stubbs' death. Hamilton ordered Hodge to kill Stubbs, said District Attorney Bill McBroom. Hylton is expected to be one of two key witnesses against Hodge who can tie Hodge to the drug transaction. Hodge's attorneys, however, asserted in their opening arguments that Hylton and Williams will prove to have credibility problems when they take the stand. Williams lied to police three times giving a false name twice when providing his version of the events, Martin said. Both of those witnesses participated in the murder, yet in a deal with prosecutors pled guilty to a lesser charge of marijuana possession, getting 10-year sentences in exchange for their testimony against Hodge, Martin added. "It comes down to the believability of Pablo and Mr. Williams, Wilson, whatever his name is," Martin said. McBroom said the state seeks murder convictions for Hodge, the alleged shooter, and Hamilton, who allegedly ordered the killing. Stubbs and Hylton planned to steal the marijuana from a man who brought it to Atlanta from San Diego, Calif., but they were double-crossed by Hodge and Hamilton, who stole the drugs from them. "There is no honor among thieves," McBroom said. "... It was just like the movies. They took him out for a drive." Hodge, sitting on the passenger side behind Stubbs, fired a bullet into the back of Stubbs' head before the SUV was abandoned and set afire, McBroom said. Despite the vehicle being heavily damaged by fire, investigators from the Fayette County Sheriff's Department traced it back to an Atlanta man who had rented it from somewhere in Florida, McBroom said. That witness started a chain reaction of leads that led police to file formal charges against Hodge, Hamilton and Hylton, McBroom said. Photos showed that Stubbs' body was so badly burned, his kneecaps were exposed on both legs. His body was identified partly through a cracked tooth about which he often complained to Gould. "He was always saying he needed to get it fixed," she said, fighting back tears. Stubbs was an illegal immigrant from Jamaica who worked as a security guard at the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, Gould said. He sold drivers' licenses to other illegal immigrants for $500 to $1,000 each, she confirmed. Gould also knew of Stubbs's plans to steal the marijuana originally, she added.
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